After four days of competition featuring the best Canadian men’s hockey university hockey teams from across the country, two western rivals squared off for Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) supremacy in the final University Cup championship game in Saskatoon, March 23.
One of these teams was the tournament’s top seeds in the University of Alberta (U of A) Golden Bears, the other the underdog team in the form of the University of Saskatchewan (U of S) Huskies, who are only at the event because they are hosting it.
At the end of the day the Golden Bears took home the gold medal, winning the national title with a 3-1 victory.
U of A fifth-year defenceman Colin Joe said it was the perfect end to his Golden Bears career.
“Words can’t really describe it. After five years with it all coming to this, it’s really special,” he said.
The game began with a scoreless first period and neither team taking control, mirroring how three of the four regular season meetings between these teams were decided by only one goal.
The Golden Bears drew first blood in the second stanza, as Jordan Hickmott finally beat Huskies goaltender Ryan Holfeld. Not long after the opening goal, Levko Koper added another to extend the lead to 2-0.
But a late U of S goal on a one-timer from Derek Hulak made the game interesting, beating Golden Bears goalie Kurtis Mucha to close the gap heading into the third period.
After both teams exchanged several chances to start the third frame, Koper once again found the back of the net to re-establish U of A’s two-goal cushion—a lead that proved to be insurmountable for the Huskies.
With the win, the Golden Bears captured their 14th men’s hockey national championship in school history, extending their own record of most University Cup titles.
U of A defenceman Ben Lindemulder said he’s glad to finally be a part of a championship-winning team, as this is the first Golden Bears triumph at nationals since 2008. He said his team felt pressure going into the tournament from the program’s history and by going in as the top seeds.
“I think every time we come to nationals we’re expected to win, and it just feels so good to finally do it,” he said.
There will be a lot of graduating players on this U of A squad, and many of them will end their CIS careers—or hockey careers in general—as champions.
Lindemulder is one of these graduating players. He said veteran experience is a huge reason why his team were crowned national champions.
“We’ve all been here before. We came up short [last year] and we knew we had to do a little bit more this time,” he said.
Despite the loss in the final by the host team, U of S did manage to set the all-time University Cup attendance record for the entire tournament with 41,089 loud fans packing the Credit Union Centre over the course of the tournament, according to Michel Belanger, the CIS communications manager.
“Saskatoon has the top five attendance records when it comes to University Cup tournaments,” he said. “They just do a great job. They just love their university hockey here.”
The next two University Cups will be held in Moncton, N.B.
Herbers said he hopes his team can continue the U of A winning pedigree by repeating its success next season, despite losing at least five fifth-year players and maybe more on this year’s Golden Bears roster.
“We’ve already been talking to players about coming in here and replacing our graduating guys,” he said. “There’s a lot of very good programs in the country, a lot of very good coaches, and a lot of very good players in those programs, so we’ve got to make sure we come back re-focused.”
